North Korea has drafted a new clause in regulations for the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex that would allow the detainment of South Korean business officials at the site.
 
A Unification Ministry official told reporters that the new clause allows for requesting North Korean authorities to detain South Korean businesspeople for compensation in the event that a contract is breached.
 
In response to the revision made by the North’s Central Guidance Bureau for Special Zone Development, an association of South Korean companies operating in the joint factory park expressed serious concern over the new clause and urged that it be stricken. 
 
The Unification Ministry in Seoul is said to have been notified of the North’s new rule last September.
 
A ministry official said the North's move to unilaterally stipulate the term "detainment" in the new clause is legally problematic, noting that the North can only expel South Koreans from the factory park. The officials said the South requested to hold discussions on the matter with the North but received no response.
 
Last November, the North unilaterally revised Gaeseong factory park regulations to scrap the upper ceiling for its workers’ wages.